


Perfect and Great

by thinkpink



Series: Perfect and Great [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alpha Lance (Voltron), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bottom Shiro (Voltron), Knotting, M/M, Omega Shiro (Voltron), Oral Sex, Scenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-11
Updated: 2018-09-11
Packaged: 2019-07-10 22:34:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15958958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thinkpink/pseuds/thinkpink
Summary: What are the chances that thatevery single personon the ship is an Alpha?Lance can't get over how crazy that is - until he realizes he's wrong.





	Perfect and Great

**Author's Note:**

> This is suuuuper self indulgent fluff and smut. I also just wanted to explore different ABO dynamics, so this isn't following any of my other ABO fics.  
> In this world: Alphas -penis. Omegas - vagina. Betas- either or but can't conceive.
> 
> I seriously veered off from canon, so nothing that is currently happening is happening and probably none of the bad stuff happened either - like Shiro dying or being a clone or whatever. 
> 
> Definitely understand that bottom Shiro isn't everyones cup of tea but dammit, I love it and I want to see more of it. I also love sensitive, caring, emotionally supportive top Lance. 
> 
> #LetShiroBottom2k18

There were seven people currently living in the Castle of Lions. 

At one point, Matt had brought their count up to eight, but he’d since returned to his outpost, reverting the total to seven.

Every single one of them was an Alpha. 

Which was crazy, statistically speaking. 

Alphas were the least common of all the secondary sexes – Betas being most common, and Omegas less so – Alphas fell behind them by a fairly large margin.

It made sense, when you considered the way ancient societies had lived in packs. One Alpha could impregnate multiple Omegas at once, furthering several family lines at one time, spreading their genes farther and creating a better chance of survival. 

Even in modern society it wasn’t uncommon to see an Alpha with multiple Omegas or Betas. There just weren’t that many Alphas to go around, and if an Omega wanted a baby, partner sharing was generally the easiest route. It helped that Omegas were so affectionate and sociable, throw in a conciliatory Beta and it was the perfect dynamic for raising a child. 

It took a village after all. 

So it was absolutely _insane_ that every single person on the ship was an Alpha. 

Even the Alteans – whose scents and gender performance were just slightly different – were Alphas. 

It was totally weird. 

And it wasn’t like Lance thought he was _special_ or anything for being an Alpha. He wasn’t like those macho assholes who walked around like they owned the place, bullying the other sexes – he was a modern minded Alpha, thank you very much.

But he was sort of used to being the only Alpha. 

At least until he’d started rooming with Hunk. And then they got partnered with Pidge who was an Alpha – and then turned out to be a female Alpha – even rarer. 

So thankfully Lance had _already_ gotten pretty comfortable sharing space with other Alphas.

It made it much easier to manage the whole situation on the castle ship. Keith was easily the most combative, territorial, hot headed, _Alpha-y_ Alpha of them all, but even he wasn’t too hard for Lance to handle.

No, the most difficult Alpha for Lance to deal with was _Shiro._

There was something about him…

By all rights, Shiro should have been the most dominant, from his position as the leader of Voltron to his overall commanding, authoritative personality. Everything about Shiro screamed Alpha, including his appearance – tall, muscular, intimidating. 

But for whatever reason, he’d stepped back to allow Allura the position of Alpha Prime. 

Which was whatever, Lance wasn’t incognizant of his own self, he wasn’t ever going to be top dog in with this group and that was fine by him. He wasn’t interested in being the boss of a pack of only Alphas, _anyway._

And Allura definitely made sense as the next choice, her scent and presence were enough to have Lance weak in the knees – Alpha or no. 

The thing was, Shiro just didn’t _act_ like an Alpha. 

Sure, he was confident and assured, he made a great leader for the team – he knew exactly when to be assertive and when to step back, he was drowning in tact and diplomacy, he was rational and intelligent without sacrificing caring and camaraderie. He was exactly the type of Alpha Lance wanted to be, strived to be. 

But beyond that, he was like no Alpha Lance had ever met before. It was so odd.

He didn’t mark his territory, he didn’t posture _ever,_ he didn’t seem bothered by the overabundance of _other Alpha_ scent that seemed to blanket the castle – something that bothered _everyone_ at some point or another. 

Shiro wasn’t possessive of anything – space, people or property. In fact, he seemed to revel in sharing with everyone, making sure the team was getting along and happy, that everyone had enough and no jealousies could arise. 

The only thing that really seemed to bother him was any discord within the team, and the only time Lance ever saw Shiro even close to confrontational was when he was trying to settle a fight between the Paladins. Or protecting them. 

That right there… That should have been the sign…

Lance was the first person to notice it. The _only_ person to notice it, really. He’d always had a sensitive nose for scents, ever since he’d been a kid. 

Keen sense of smell was an Omega trait, through scent they were able to discern the emotions and feelings of their pack members. It made them excellent mediators. Most Alphas didn’t really bother much with scenting until they’d mated, but for whatever reason, Lance could smell as well – if not better – than a lot of Omegas. 

And one morning Lance woke up on the castle ship to the _unmistakable_ scent of Omega. 

Lance blinked, confused, before taking a deeper breath, mouth open so that he could taste it. 

Yeah… That was definitely Omega. 

His cock swelled inside his pajama pants as he panted, scenting the air. 

Not just Omega. Pre-heat. _Estrus._

Lance shuddered, reaching down to grasp himself through his pants. 

_Fuck._

Someone on the ship was a liar. 

Lance gripped himself tighter before letting go, breathing heavily out through his nose. 

_Fuck. Shit. Goddammit._

Someone on the ship was an Omega… And they clearly didn’t want anyone to know about it. 

Who could it be?

Lance ran through the incredibly short rolodex of pack members in his mind, each person immediately vetoed as he came to them.

A stowaway? No, that was ridiculous, the ship’s systems would have picked up on it. 

Did cows have secondary sexes?

_Jesus Christ Lance, did you even go to biology class? Think man!_

Lance sat up, breathing as shallowly as possible. 

Whoever it was, they were obviously hiding it. Lance wasn’t going to be the one to out them. If he was only smelling it now, that meant the scent was weak and whoever it was probably had quite a bit of time before their actual heat. 

But eventually the others would smell it too. Alphas may have had weaker senses of smell, but this was a scent they were designed to track. 

God, whoever it was, they had to be freaking out. Being the only Omega in a group of all Alphas and going into heat… Lance couldn’t think of anything more stressful.

Lance dressed quickly, ignoring his persistent erection – jerking off now would be like jerking off to one of his team mates and that was a path he could not go down right then. 

Once outside his room the scent was clearer. Still faint, he knew the others wouldn’t have picked up on it, but strong enough that he could follow it, picking up the way it grew heavier in certain areas until Lance’s feet had led him straight to a doorway. 

Or rather, _into_ a doorway, as in his distraction Lance had smacked directly into a metal door, stepping back with a groan as he rubbed his forehead. 

It must have been loud because the door opened and Shiro stepped out, wearing only sweatpants and concern all over his face. He reached up to pull Lance’s wrists away, inspecting his head.

“Are you okay? I heard that all the way in the bathroom,” Shiro told him, stepping into Lance’s space, inadvertently dousing Lance in his soft, sweet estrus scent. 

Lance finally managed to regain his wits, looking up at Shiro with wide eyes. 

“Holy shit.”

Oh my God it was _Shiro!_

_Holy shit!_

It all made sense. 

Well no, it made no sense, but it also made perfect sense.

_Shiro was an Omega!_

Shiro was regarding Lance with a bemusedly concerned expression when Lance broke the loose hold on his wrists, flipping the position, his own hands clutching at Shiro’s forearms.

“You’re an Omega,” Lance breathed, still in shock.

The way Shiro’s eyes widened would have been comical if he weren’t so obviously shaken. He tried to step back, but Lance tightened his hold, stopping Shiro from moving away.

“Wait, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-“ Lance tried to explain but Shiro continued to struggle, pulling frantically.

Lance couldn’t help it – Shiro’s panicked scent was filling his nose, and his face was pinched with anxiety, Lance hadn’t meant to upset him – he growled, deep and meaningful in the back of his throat. 

Shiro immediately stilled, relaxing in Lance’s grasp, his head tilted slightly to the side in a show of submission. 

It was so shocking Lance let go. 

“Fuck, I’m sorry, that was so not cool,” Lance realized they were both panting, ridiculously worked up within minutes. 

Shiro looked at him then, a guarded expression, before he turned to peer down the hall both ways. Seeing no one, he grabbed Lance’s hand, pulling them both into his room. 

Lance found his back against the unforgiving metal door, Shiro’s hands pinning him there. 

“How did you find out?” Shiro asked harshly. 

“I can smell you,” Lance said, trying not to let his nerves bleed into his voice.

Shiro stepped back in surprise, releasing his hold on Lance to cover his mouth and stare in confusion.

“How?” Shiro asked into his palm.

“I have a really strong sense of smell,” Lance told him, rubbing at his shoulder where Shiro had pushed him. It was sore. Shiro was so unreasonably strong. 

Shiro crossed his arms, looking at Lance consideringly. “That’s it?” 

Lance nodded, “Yeah I swear, I didn’t even realize it was you, I just followed the trail and uh, smacked into your door.”

Shiro huffed a laugh, though he didn’t look happy, his posturing relaxing slightly. 

“So the others?” 

“I highly doubt they can smell it,” Lance assured him. “But… they will soon.”

Shiro nodded, eyes far away. “Yeah, I probably have a week before my scent gets strong.”

The _and another week after that until my heat starts_ went unsaid. 

“Are you- I mean, how did you-“ Lance stammered, struggling to express his swirling thoughts. 

Shiro, being Shiro, took pity. “This is the first heat I’ve had in years.” 

“Oh?” Lance tried to convey polite interest, when in actuality he was desperate to know more, to understand how – and why – Shiro had hidden this part of himself for so long. 

“Honestly, I was lucky my birth control implant was in left arm, otherwise it probably would have hit a long time ago.” Shiro sounded amused as he gestured to his right arm, the one that had been stolen in the arena. Allura had replaced the Galra tech with Altean two years ago after a close call during a fight but it looked much the same. Shiny and glowing occasionally.

Lance was struck by a sickening thought. “Wait, how long have you had it? I heard they can make you really sick if you leave it in too long! Does Coran know, he should take it out-“

“Lance,” Shiro interrupted, reaching out to grab Lance’s wildly gesticulating hand. “It’s fine, I took it out myself.”

He lifted his left arm to show Lance the small dark pink wound on the inside of his bicep. It wasn’t fresh, but it wasn’t healed either. 

“Actually, it _was_ starting to make me sick. Otherwise I don’t think I would have remembered it had been five years already.”

“Oh,” Lance said, trying to ignore the amount of panic that had been in his voice moments ago. “Right, well, that’s good.”

Lance looked around the room, taking in the few personal items and the overall tidy appearance. Very clean and organized, an Omega trait, so they said.

“So… Why didn’t you tell anyone?” Lance looked at Shiro, who shrugged sullenly. 

“Why did you assume I was an Alpha?” Sharp dark eyes watched Lance. “I never said I was.”

Something in his tone of voice was just slightly concerning, so Lance couldn’t help but lean in minutely, scenting the air. 

Shiro smelled nervous. Not just nervous though… It was sort of like…

Shame. 

_Fuck._

“You’re right, you didn’t,” Lance rubbed at the back of his neck, face flooded hot with guilt. “I guess you just…”

“Act like an Alpha?” Shiro asked, voice biting. 

Lance opened his mouth to confirm Shiro’s word but stopped abruptly, his mind whirling. 

The thing was, Shiro had never seemed like an Alpha to begin with. Why had he thought that he was? Even at the Garrison, it was just assumed, Takashi Shirogane – Alpha. But the more Lance had gotten to know Shiro, the more it had bugged him how much Shiro _didn’t act like an Alpha._

“Actually, no?” Lance told him, the words sounding unsure even to himself. “I mean… It’s actually kind of bothered me a lot? That you don’t act like an Alpha.”

Shiro looked surprised then amused. 

“Well I’m not one so that makes sense.” 

“God, it makes so much sense! You’re such an Omega!” Lance crowed, pointing at the man standing in front of him.

“You really think so?” Shiro asked softly, and Lance had to pause the flood of his thoughts to look at Shiro and really take him in. 

Shiro’s arms were still crossed but it no longer seemed defensive, now it seemed kind of shy. Maybe it was the soft smile on his face. Or maybe it was his scent, which smelled clean and pleasant, like fresh laundry. A happy Omega smell.

Shiro was an Omega, and deep down something all Omegas wanted was to be loved and cared for. Even the independent bossy ones, like Lance’s mom. 

Lance’s feet began to take him closer to Shiro, all on their own. 

“Yeah, I can’t believe I didn’t realize it right away.” Lance told him gently, moving further into Shiro’s personal space.

“Well it’s not like you’ve ever scented me, so you had no reason to.” Shiro watched him, an edge of cautious in his face but dropping his arms to give Lance more space. “And uh,” he tipped his head backwards slightly, exposing his neck. “Most people think I’m an Alpha, so I guess…”

His voice trailed off as Lance leaned in, dipping his face into the crook of Shiro’s neck. Lance grabbed Shiro’s waist without thought, sliding his arms around the firm expanse of muscle as he slid his nose along Shiro’s collarbone. 

Lance inhaled deep through his nose, panting through his open mouth, damping Shiro’s skin with his breath.

Shiro shuddered and Lance tensed, face snapping up. 

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry.” Lance tried to pull his hands away and step backwards but a keening noise from Shiro stopped him. 

“Wait,” Shiro huffed, leaning into the space Lance was trying to vacate. Lance froze, before relaxing back into the embrace, wrapping his arms more securely around Shiro’s waist, pressing his hands to heated skin.

“Shiro, this is-“ Lance began, before Shiro titled his head forward, pressing their temples together. This gave Lance an excellent view of the curve of his neck and his exposed scent glands. Unnoticeable normally, currently they were slightly red and swollen with impending heat. 

Lance considered himself a modern minded Alpha, but shit, there was only so much you could expect of one person. 

He slid his arm around, coasting his hand up bare skin, across firm muscle and tits with just a _little_ give – tits that would swell up with milk if Shiro ever got pregnant, fuck, Lance felt his cock twitch at the thought – before sliding his fingers across Shiro’s collarbone, and slightly higher until he could firmly rub against the glands. 

“Ah,” Shiro panted in his ear, his body relaxing further against Lance – and thank fuck for all that training Shiro made them do, otherwise he never would have been able to support Shiro’s not inconsiderable weight. 

Lance heard a deep feral noise and it took him a minute to realize that it was coming from himself, a growling rumble he’d never heard outside of heat-porn. 

Shiro was now practically wrapped around him, one arm across his back and grasping his shoulder, the other low around his waist. His face was pressed into Lance neck and he was _purring._

“S’nice,” Shiro slurred, voice hazy with the fog of pheromones.

Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit.

Lance would have continued standing there like that, wrapped around each other, drowning in hormonal bliss if Shiro was holding up any part of his own weight. As it were, they were minutes from tumbling to the ground. 

“Shiro,” Lance rasped, clearing his throat to suggest that they move to the bed, or even the floor, where ever they could both lay down and continue their impromptu scenting. The noise must have startled Shiro because he was pulling away, blushing, running a trembling hand through his hair. 

“Shit, Lance, I’m sorry,” he was trying to retreat and Lance felt his stomach dropping away, his instincts desperate to stop Shiro from leaving, to smother that hint of disappointment in Shiro’s scent. It pushed his body into action, desperately grasping at the Omega in front of him. 

“Hey, nothing to be sorry about,” Lance focused on producing trustworthy, affectionate pheromones – attempting to imbue his feelings into his scent. 

It seemed to work, as a tranquil air fell over Shiro and he stopped pulling away, choosing instead to merely stare at Lance, eyes still slightly out-of-focus from the scenting. 

“You okay?” Lance asked.

“Yeah, sorry,” Shiro nodded, voice thick. “I’ve never… No one has ever done that to me.”

Lance gaped. “Wait, seriously? Why not?”

Shiro smiled, but it wasn’t a happy expression. “I’ve only ever been with Betas.”

“You don’t like Alphas?” Lance asked. He had never been so desperate to be wrong in his life, and the two seconds of waiting for Shiro’s answer were agonizing. 

“No, I do, I guess,” Shiro blushed, and Lance knew he was thinking of their earlier actions. He fought down that same rumbling noise from before as Shiro continued. “I’m not exactly the ideal Omega.”

“Pfft,” Lance rolled his eyes, waving his hand through the air. “Bullshit, you’re like the perfect Omega.” 

Shiro seemed startled by this outburst, his face quickly morphing into confusion. Lance had expected this, so he launched into an explanation. 

“You’re responsible, thoughtful, kind. You’re always making sure everyone is taken care of and happy, you go out of your way to help everyone. You mom the fuck out of everybody,” Lance smiled at the laugh this pulled out of Shiro. “Plus, you’re all pretty and you smell like a cinnamon bun. Omega through and through.” 

He poked Shiro in the stomach, as if he could physically point it out.

Shiro smiled softly. “I’m tall, and strong, and not easily bossed around.”

“Why is anyone trying to boss you around?” 

“That’s what Alphas do,” he smiled as he said it, probably to soften the weight of the truth in his words.

“Lots of Alphas are assholes,” Lance agreed. “But none of the ones on this ship. Except maybe Keith.”

Shiro laughed, and for a second it seemed like he might sidle back into Lance’s space.

“And he’d never be an asshole to you,” Lance continued, moving a little closer, trying to appear open and approachable. 

Shiro nodded, stepping towards Lance once more. “Yeah, I know. And they’ll all figure it out soon. I’d rather they not know yet though.”

Lance pulled Shiro back into an embrace. “I won’t tell them, I promise.”

“Thanks,” Shiro murmured against the skin of his neck. “This is really nice, Lance. I was starting to feel pretty edgy from my oncoming heat but this… This helps a lot.”

“Anytime, Shiro.” Lance told him, genuinely and Shiro’s scent shifted to one full of trust and affection at the words.

They parted ways and went about the rest of their day as they both normally would. 

During training with the other Paladins, Lance kept an eye on all of the team, looking for any spark of recognition, any hint that the others had picked up on Shiro’s scent. But even covered in sweat, it seemed as if Shiro was still far enough outside his heat to remain anonymous. 

Days passed, and Lance watched as Shiro grew more anxious, jittery and irritable. The other Paladins were picking up on Shiro’s shift in attitude for sure, but none of them seemed to have noticed the other part. 

He was beginning to think he was the only person on the ship with a sense of smell when finally, Pidge made a comment over dinner.

“Okay, am I going crazy or do you guys smell a weird... Omega-y scent lately?”

“Whoa dude, you are totally not going crazy because I definitely smelled something earlier today,” Hunk looked around at everyone at the table as if to confirm. 

Lance, for his part, sat frozen, desperate to look at Shiro and gauge his reaction but knowing better than to call attention to him. 

Keith grunted, “You guys are losin’ it, there’s no Omega on this ship.” 

“I’m not saying there _is_ an Omega, I’m just saying something smells like one.” Hunk pressed, gesturing towards the rest of the ship. “Maybe some weird alien junk we don’t know about.” 

“Well I _am_ saying there’s an Omega on board, that scent is way too strong and _too potent_ to just be some weird _alien junk.”_ Pidge raised her fingers in air quotations. 

“So what, you think one of us is pretending to be an Alpha?” Keith rolled his eyes at the idea, turning back to his food. “Yeah, right.”

“Well I mean, it’s possible. I pretended to be a boy for a long time,” Pidge pressed on.

“Yeah and everyone knew,” Lance countered – if he didn’t say something they would get suspicious. 

“You mean everyone besides you,” Pidge rolled her eyes, pushing her glasses upwards. “I’m just saying it’s not impossible.”

“Well if someone did want to hide that they were an Omega, talking about it over dinner would be pretty fuckin’ rude, don’t you think?” Lance threw back, trying to not let the very real anger he felt spill over into his voice. Shiro had yet to say anything and it was killing him not to look. 

“It’s only fair that we know Lance, if there’s an Omega going into heat on this ship, we need to be prepared.”

She was raising a point that Lance had been struggling with all week. What were they going to actually _do_ once Shiro went into heat? They couldn’t form Voltron without him, they’d be sitting ducks for three to five days. They needed to have a strategy. 

“That doesn’t make it anyone else’s business,” Lance’s voice was ratcheting up in anger, and he took a deep breath to calm himself.

Pidge raised an eyebrow, taking in his obviously agitated state. “Look Lance, if you’re going into heat you should just tell someone so we can make a plan-“

Lance stood suddenly, rattling the dishes. “Fuck you, how do we know it isn’t you, huh Pidge?” God, he wasn’t even making sense, he seriously needed to calm down, Alpha posturing wasn’t going to help anyone.

“What you think cause I’m a girl _I’m_ the Omega? Lemme just whip my dick out right here,” Pidge stood up too, and actually reached for her pants. 

Keith and Hunk watched wide eyed, both frozen in similar states of astonishment. 

“Enough,” Shiro finally spoke, standing up to tower over them all. “This is not the time or the place for this type of discussion. Pidge, we have contingency plans in place for instances that a Paladin may be injured or ill. Your concern for Voltron’s safety in unwarranted.”

Shiro’s voice was icy and emotionless, and Lance would have believed that was how he really felt if he couldn’t smell the acrid scent of anxiety and anguish emanating from him.

Even without the scent, Pidge looked shamed, and she mumbled an apology at the table.

They resumed their seats and Lance attempted to finish his meal, but he couldn’t seem to choke down anything, too wound up from the earlier argument and his concern for Shiro. 

Shiro left the table first, and Lance waited what he felt was an appropriate amount of time, but was really only like two minutes, to excuse himself as well. 

Lance was able to follow that same panic scent all the way to Shiro’s room and had barely knocked on the door before it was opening, and he was being yanked inside.

“Why did you follow me?” Shiro asked him, already pressing Lance back against the door with his entire body. 

Lance relaxed, allowing himself to be manhandled into an awkward embrace against the cool metal door. 

“You’re freaking out, I can smell it,” Lance informed him, all the while wrapping his hands arounds Shiro’s waist, pulling him close enough to nose into his neck. Shiro was still in his Paladin training gear, the high collar covering his scent glands, but Lance could breathe him in even through the fabric, his scent was so strong he could taste it. 

“How can you scent emotions so well?” Shiro asked, tension bleeding from his body as he let Lance’s calming pheromones unwind his earlier concerns. “That’s supposed to be an Omega thing.”

“It happens, sometimes,” Lance rubbed his face back and forth, cheek to cheek, in the corner of Shiro’s neck and shoulder. He could feel his mouth filling up with saliva, the urge to bite down, to tongue at his scent glands, was overwhelming. “Some Omegas have very little sense of smell. Everyone is different.” 

Shiro hummed a warm note of agreement before he began pulling away, untangling himself from Lance’s grasp. 

Lance fought the growl this action raised and looked at Shiro, who was looking at him with unease. 

“They’re gonna hate me when they find out,” Shiro spoke softly.

“No,” Lance was vehement. “No, they’re not. Everyone on this team loves you, we’re a pack. A _weird_ pack sure, but it still stands.”

Shiro laughed humorlessly. “You forget what just happened over dinner?”

“Look, you know how Pidge is, _knowledge is power,_ she just wants to know everything. And she’s young, she doesn’t fully grasp the whole Alpha-Omega dynamics. I know I didn’t at her age.”

As Lance spoke Shiro walked over to his bed, sitting on the edge.

“But she’s right, I should tell everyone, so they can be prepared.” Shiro spoke to his hands. 

Lance paused, unsure, before walking over to sit next to him on the bed. “Well, why _haven’t_ you told everyone?”

Shiro paused, considering, before he finally explained.

“My whole life, everyone always just assumed I’m an Alpha,” he started. “Even other Omegas, who are supposed to be able to scent it, were always coming up to me, obviously hoping I was an Alpha and when they realized – or even worse, when I had to tell them – there was always this same _look_ they’d get. Like disappointment… But also, kind of accusatory? Like I lied to them? So then I just stopped correcting people and before I knew it _everyone_ at the Garrison thought I was an Alpha and then we formed Voltron, someone made a comment about how crazy it was that everyone on the ship was an Alpha-“

Lance winced internally, it had definitely been him who made that comment.

“-and that was my chance to say something, I should have been like _well, actually,_ but I was already so used to going with it, and it be perfectly honest, I didn’t think we’d be in space this long and now it’s been _years_ and I’m going into heat and everyone is going to know I’ve been _lying_ to them and-“

Shiro was definitely mid verbal vomit, Lance recognized this, and he knew personally how cathartic it could be to simply say everything you had been holding back for so long. But he could also tell that Shiro was probably gearing up for a lot more self-recriminating comments that wouldn’t do anything except make him feel even shittier, so it was up to Lance to put the brakes on this. 

And there were probably a lot of better ways Lance could have gone about it but in that moment, wrapped in Shiro’s increasingly more agitated scent, days away from his first heat in years, Lance’s instincts were giving him only one option. 

Shiro was still talking, looking at his hands, which were restlessly fidgeting with his gloves, when Lance leaned over, took his face between his hands, and pulled him in for a kiss. 

Lance had kind of expected Shiro to freeze, to be so surprised he stopped freaking out, and then Lance could pull back and they’d brush off the awkward kiss and continue their conversation, with Shiro a little more level headed. 

What he hadn’t expected was for Shiro to push him back towards the mattress, rolling over to straddle his hips while his hands wounds into Lance’s hair, holding him in place to deepen the kiss. 

Momentarily stunned, Lance floundered until Shiro settled his hips against Lance’s own, and a soft Omega keen escaped his throat. That was all it took for Lance’s Alpha instincts to kick in, a rough growl spilling from him as he grabbed Shiro around the waist and flipped them both, using all of his strength to drag Shiro up the bed more fully. 

Shiro looked up at him, stunned, as Lance grabbed both of his wrists and held them securely to the mattress above his head. He hadn’t stopped growling the entire time, but it was low and non-threatening, a sort of contended noise. 

“Lance,” Shiro said softly, and if he had been anyone else Lance would have said he had moaned it. 

_”Lance.”_

Fuck, he had definitely moaned it. His scent was intoxicating, full of urgency and pleading. 

Lance couldn’t stop himself from grinding his achingly hard dick into the juncture of Shiro thighs – and when had his legs ended up wrapped around Lance’s waist? – pressing down into the heat radiating through his clothes. 

Fuck, this was such a bad idea. Shiro didn’t want him, he was just the only person that knew about Shiro, the only option. Lance recognized this. 

But when Shiro spread his legs even further, rolled his hips upward, pressing against Lance’s erection, it was hard to remember that fact. 

“Lance,” Shiro panted, scent desperate. 

God, when he said his name like that, who was Lance to deny him?

“Fuck,” Lance growled, overcome. “Shiro, you don’t-“

“I do,” Shiro assured him, nonsensically. He didn’t even know what he was agreeing to, _Lance knew this,_ but- “Please I do, I do.”

Fuck. Shit. Goddammit.

_Alright Lance, keep it together. Shiro’s just near his heat, his hormones are all over the place, he’s never been with an Alpha, this is probably all super overwhelming for him._

But fuck, it was super overwhelming for Lance too! Shiro wasn’t the first Omega he’d been with but _damn_ it was still Shiro, the most gorgeous person Lance had ever known and now someone who happened to be perfectly genetically compatible with him. 

Lance took a second to look at the man prostrate beneath him. 

Shiro’s eyes were slightly hazy, but not enough to worry Lance that he was being totally influenced by pheromones. His arms were still above his head, held there by Lance’s wrists. He could have easily broken the hold. Lance had beaten Shiro in hand to hand a few times, but the number of times Shiro had thrown his ass to the mat was laughable. So clearly Shiro wanted it, was enjoying being spread out like this. 

His legs were open, wrapped loosely around Lance’s upper thighs, and his shirt was riding up, exposing his pale, muscled stomach. Lance could see the edge of a scar peeking below the hemline. 

Damn, he looked good. 

Lance growled approvingly and Shiro smirked, just a little bit, tilting his head back to expose his throat. Preening under Lance’s scrutiny. 

Welp, that was the last of Lance’s self-control. Just that flash of the long line of Shiro’s neck had Lance moaning, thrusting his dick hard against Shiro’s crotch, leaning in to press their mouths together.

Lance immediately took control of the kiss, licking into Shiro, across the roof of his mouth, catching his tongue on sharp canine teeth. He sucked Shiro’s bottom lip into his mouth, letting it slowly slip between his teeth before nipping down, just enough to sting, just enough to make Shiro think of Lance’s teeth on his neck. 

Releasing his mouth, Lance moved lower, licking and sucking along his neck, until Shiro was moaning, a near constant noise of desire as Lance found his scent glands through his shirt and bit down lightly. 

“Lance, Lance, shit, please,” Shiro tried to speak through his own panting. 

Lance leaned back, ignoring Shiro’s small cry, to reach down and pull the tight spandex training shirt up over Shiro’s head. Immediately Shiro was doing the same, pulling at Lance’s jacket, throwing it to the floor and stripping off the tee shirt underneath. 

Lance wasted no time, sliding his fingers underneath the waist band of Shiro’s bottoms, attempting to pull off his pants and underwear all in one go. He couldn’t help the frustrated growl when he was briefly obstructed by Shiro’s boots but he made quick work of them and finally, _finally,_ Shiro was naked. 

Shiro made a grab for Lance’s own pants, but Lance waved him off, shaking his head as he pressed Shiro back to the bed 

Lance took both of Shiro’s wrists in his hands, holding them down against the mattress above Shiro’s head meaningfully. 

_Don’t move._

Shiro nodded in understanding, eyes wide, as he watched Lance lean back, his tanned hands running down Shiro’s arms, across his wide chest, down his stomach. 

Lance slid down the bed, as his hands moved to grasp Shiro’s calves, positioning them up and outward, spreading the Omega wide open. Putting him fully on display. 

Strong muscled thighs led down to Shiro’s center, the velvety folds of his slit swollen and wet. His scent was strongest here, natural lubrication dribbling out from his heated center, sliding down to drip over his dusky asshole.

“Fuck, you’re gorgeous,” Lance told him, and his words had the desired effect, as he watched Shiro’s pussy clench and slick ooze out of him. 

“Lance, please fuck me,” Shiro moaned, thighs tense and shaking. 

“I can’t,” Lance told him, the words breathed out like an apology. 

Shiro’s eyes widened alarmed, and his hands flew to Lance’s shoulders. “What, why-“

Lance growled, looking from Shiro’s hands to the mattress behind him meaningfully. 

Shiro lay back, chastened, his arms above his head. But his eyes still held concern and his scent was bordering on distress and abandonment. 

God, Shiro’s scent was so _honest._ It was insane Lance had never caught onto it before. Even without the heat, there was no way Lance would ever not be attuned to it again.

Lance focused on putting his desire and interest fully into his own scent, rubbing his hands along Shiro’s calves, down to his thighs. 

“I don’t have a condom, and you’re too close to your heat,” Lance told him, kneading Shiro’s thighs like a cat. Fuck, they were so muscular, yet soft and yielding under Lance’s hands. 

“Oh,” Shiro blushed, fully relaxing back against the bed. “Right, of course, I didn’t think…”

Lance was never going to get over this, he was so done for. He had to burn the sight of blushing, panting Shiro into his mind. He would never forget the sound of his needy, gasping mewls. 

There would never be a day that he wouldn’t crave Shiro’s trusting, wanting, cinnamon bun Omega scent like a drug. 

Fuck.

_Well, Lance. Better make the most of it while you can._

With that thought, Lance dove in, licking a long stripe from Shiro’s asshole up to his clit. 

Shiro _screamed._

There was no other word for it. 

Lance spared a brief thought to the thickness and sound proofing of the walls before he dipped in again, sliding his tongue through the soft folds of Shiro’s cunt. 

“F-fuck, Lance,” Shiro panted, his whole body tensed.

Lance hummed, licking along the apex of Shiro’s thighs, lapping up every drop of the creamy Omega scented slick that had dripped out of him. 

Once Shiro was clean, or as clean as he was going to get, Lance slid a finger along his opening, first one then two, prizing him open for Lance’s inspection. His skin was flushed dark with blood, the folds puffy and engorged, and more slick began to drip out from where Lance was holding him open. 

Lance couldn’t resist dipping his tongue in to lick it up, before thrusting as deep as he could go, licking out every bit of Shiro’s desire. 

Shiro’s thighs were trembling on either side of Lance’s face, and a litany of gasping moans were pouring from his mouth as Lance devoured him. 

Lance could have remained in that position, licking up every bit of cum that leaked out of Shiro’s cunt, forever, but the desperation in Shiro’s voice and body was enough for him to take pity. 

Leaning up slightly, Lance took Shiro’s clit into his mouth, sucking firmly just as he slid two fingers inside of him, crooking them upwards. 

_”Ohmygod,”_ Shiro cried out, his body tensing. Lance looked up to see his face tilted backwards, his hands clutching at the sheets underneath his head. 

Lance moaned at the sight, and Shiro shuddered at the feeling, one hand dropping briefly in a move to touch Lance, before remembering himself and moving it back above his head.

Lance continued to pump his fingers slowly into Shiro, tongue grinding firmly against his clit, but with his other hand he reached up to grab Shiro’s arm, signaling his permission.

Both of Shiro’s hands flew to his head, fingers tangling into his hair. Lance hummed an affirmative noise, and Shiro clutched at him, pushing Lance’s head down as he ground his own hips upwards. 

He was close, Lance could feel the way the walls of his pussy were throbbing, grasping at Lance’s fingers.

Lance indulged himself a bit longer, licking and sucking at Shiro’s clit before looking up to find Shiro watching him, face flushed and eyes wide.

Lance couldn’t help smirking against Shiro’s cunt then as he went in for the kill. Shiro’s eyes still holding his own, Lance pressed both fingers upward firmly as he sucked powerfully on Shiro’s clit. 

“Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck,” Shiro cried, finally breaking their shared gaze when he squeezed his eyes closed, head falling backwards. 

Lance clutched at Shiro’s thigh, riding out the orgasm, thrusting his fingers just a bit more gently as he lapped up every drop of slick cum pouring out of Shiro’s clenching hole. 

It was sweeter then, the taste of relief and satisfaction, perfectly matching his scent. 

Shiro collapsed back against the bed and with one final lick to his swollen slit, Lance sat up as well, wiping at his mouth with the back of his hand. 

Shiro’s eyes were closed and his chest was heaving with exertion, his hair was wild, and stuck to his face in places with sweat. 

It was a good look.

“You’re uh,” Shiro panted. “You’re really good at that.”

Lance flushed with pride, rubbing at the back of his neck in pleased embarrassment. 

“You know me, gotta be the best at everything,” Lance replied with a laugh. 

“Mission accomplished,” Shiro told him, before reaching out to pull Lance down against him.

Lance let himself be pulled, sinking into the kiss Shiro was offering. 

Shiro hummed, a contented noise, and Lance felt a clenching in his stomach, his heart skipping into overtime. 

_Uh oh._

Now was not the time to be developing feelings for his team leader. Shiro was vulnerable and was only doing this because he needed an Alpha’s touch. Not because he wanted Lance. 

A small voice in the back of Lance’s head told him it didn’t matter the reasoning; the feelings were already developed, and they were not going to get any smaller.

Especially not if Lance continued to lay there, cuddled up and making out with him.

Lance attempted to pull away but a distressed noise from Shiro kept him in place. 

“Don’t,” Shiro began, securing himself more firmly to the Alpha above him. 

“Shiro, I kinda need to,” Lance pulled away again, glancing meaningfully to the bathroom. His erection was past aching and actually painful, every press against Shiro through his own clothes was agony. 

“Let me,” Shiro told him, nosing into his neck, licking at the hollow of his throat, where his scent glands hid. 

“Fuck,” Lance panted, clutching at Shiro’s arms. “Shiro, you don’t have-“

“I want to, please let me,” Shiro bit gently at his neck before pushing against his shoulders, forcing Lance to roll backwards. 

Shiro moved with him until their earlier positions were reversed and Lance was on his back, staring up at Shiro helplessly. 

“Let me make you feel good,” Shiro told him, and his scent spelled confidence, seduction, promise. 

Lance could only nod and watch as Shiro undid his jeans, pulling them down, running into the same problem Lance had encountered, before unlacing Lance’s shoes and tossing them to the floor. 

Once finished Shiro turned back to Lance, eyes running all over his body. Lance watched his tongue dart out to wet his lips, and imagined he understood just then how it felt to be prey. 

Lance’s erection strained against tight, white boxer briefs – the large wet spot meant he could see the dark flushed head of his dick through the now translucent fabric. 

A soft mewl from Shiro had his eyes snapping back up, taking in the way Shiro’s eyes never left his crotch. Shiro licked his lips again and Lance finally gave in to instinct, growling deep in his throat. 

Shiro’s looked at him briefly and his eyes were clear and bright, no hint of pheromones fueled haziness. He shot Lance a filthy grin – and for a second, Lance had to question his entire understanding of this situation. That was not the smile of an Omega desperate for any Alpha’s touch. That was the smile of a man who knew what he wanted and wasn’t afraid to get it. Lance was rocked by this thought, but he didn’t have time to examine it further – Shiro leaned in and sucked the head of his cock into his mouth, boxer briefs and all. 

_”Jesus fuck,”_ Lance cried, clutching at Shiro’s hair briefly. 

Shiro sucked hard, seemingly attempting to soak up every bit of Lance’s precum from the fabric, before he pulled back and yanked it out of the way. He only pulled low enough to free his shaft and balls, and Lance gasped when the elastic band snapped against his skin, settling behind his testicles. 

Shiro didn’t seem to notice, already caught up in his task, he rubbed his face against Lance’s exposed thigh, spreading his own scent as much as possible.

_Marking his territory._

Fuuuuuck.

Lance moved immediately to his elbows, desperate not to miss a second of Shiro’s display. He watched as Shiro pulled back slightly, rubbing his throat and cheek along Lance’s shaft, and Lance choked just a bit when he felt the vibration against his cock. 

Shiro was purring. 

This became even more obvious when Shiro opened his mouth, sliding his tongue along Lance’s dick, the sound of his purr pouring out. 

“Shiro, holy shit,” Lance reached down with one hand, gasping the white strands of Shiro’s hair, guiding his head as Shiro licked at his cock, saliva dripping from his mouth, down his tongue, pooling around Lance’s balls. 

Lance watched, mesmerized, as Shiro looked him full in the eye before sucking his cock into his mouth, plunging down inch by inch, until his nose was settled against the base. 

“Shiro, fuck, _Shiro,”_ Lance was losing his goddamn mind. 

Shiro let his eyelids fall closed, humming slightly, before pulling all the way back up, just to repeat the move. 

Lance felt his elbow slip out from under him and his back hit the mattress with a thud. Throwing one arm over his eyes, he used the other to grip Shiro’s hair, guiding his movements. 

Not that Shiro needed any help, he was clearly a pro at sucking dick. He said he’d only been with Betas, but he’d taken Lance’s Alpha sized cock like a champ, his throat open and welcoming. 

God Shiro was so fucking impressive. Even in this.

“Shiro, baby, you’re killing me right now, your mouth is like heaven.” It was imperative to Lance that Shiro know much Lance was enjoying this. 

“I feel like I’m in a fucking dream, I don’t want to come and wake up,” Lance moaned, clutching tighter at Shiro’s hair.

Shiro hummed and Lance cried out, gasping at the feeling. 

“I want this to last forever,” Lance sobbed, and without warning, his orgasm slammed into him.

Startled, Lance yanked at Shiro’s hair, trying to warn him, but Shiro ignored him, pulling back just enough to not choke on Lance’s cum. 

There was a loud bawling noise and it took Lance a second to realize it was him, as Shiro stroked him one final time, before pulling back, his throat working as he swallowed. 

Shiro moved to lay beside him, hand pressed possessively to Lance’s chest. 

Lance finally managed to pull his arm away from his face, rolling slightly to face Shiro, who was watching him with an oddly calm expression. 

You never would have been able to tell he had just sucked Lance’s soul out through his dick if it hadn’t been for the little smudge of cum at the corner of his mouth. 

Lance leaned in, licking it off, before pressing his tongue into Shiro’s mouth. 

This kiss was different from their others, lazy, less urgent, but for whatever reason it was Lance’s favorite so far. Eventually though, he pulled away, hand at Shiro’s cheek.

“Hey,” Lance said. His brain was still just the littlest bit offline. 

Shiro huffed, an almost laugh. “Hey.”

“Speaking of needing to be the best,” Lance raised an eyebrow, looking at Shiro knowingly. 

Shiro did laugh then, bright and warm. “Guess we have that in common.”

“So this was…” Lance trailed off, unsure for the first time since they’d started. 

“Really great,” Shiro finished. 

“Yeah it was,” Lance tried to smile but his brain was coming back online, and it was flashing warning signs at him. “Well I should probably go.”

Shiro frowned. “You don’t have to-“

“No, I should,” Lance sat up, looking around for his clothes. “I kind of left right after you, so if the others put two and two together…”

“Oh,” Shiro sat up as well, watching as Lance pulled his clothes on alarmingly fast. “Right, you’re right. Thanks…”

Lance ignored Shiro’s scent of confusion and hurt that was starting to bleed into the room. He had to get out of there, he was starting to freak out, Lance could feel the edge of a panic attack creeping in, his heart racing and a high whining in his ears. 

Fully dressed, he spared one last glance to the bed, and was crushed at the sight. 

Shiro looked devastated.

_Fuck, Lance you are such an asshole._

Lance’s mind raced, and he realized suddenly that he was having a moment. 

One of those life defining moments, something he knew very well. 

Like when he was a kid, that moment a split decision had him beating up an Alpha twice his size for harassing his sister – marking him forever as the type of Alpha who protected his own. Or the moment when he’d chosen to leave his family and join the Garrison – determining his own path in life, all by himself. Even the first time he’d slept with another person, the moment he realized how much he enjoyed pleasing someone else – coloring all of his future choices in love.

This was a moment for Lance to make a decision that would irreparably change his future.

Looking at Shiro, sitting naked in his bed – Shiro, who was watching him with such heartache and wistfulness – the answer was obvious, the decision shaped by all the past moments in his life, all the choices that had led him to this point in time in the first place.

Lance dropped his jacket to the floor and walked back to the bed, sliding his hands into Shiro’s hair to hold him in place as he slotted their mouths together. 

Their tongues twined and the ringing in Lance’s ears began to lessen, his heart rate began to slow as Shiro’s scent changed to one of relief. 

Shiro was the first to pull away. “Lance, what…”

Lance pressed their foreheads together, holding Shiro tightly, not willing to let him go even a fraction further. 

“This is a terrible idea,” he said, eyes closed to avoid Shiro’s scrutiny. “You only want this because you’re going into heat soon and your body is telling you you need it.” 

“That’s not-“ Shiro began, but Lance cut him off, he needed to say this.

“Everyone is going to find out and they’re going to think I took advantage of you. Keith is gonna kick my ass, I know it.”

“Lance-“

“Honestly, maybe I am taking advantage of you, I really don’t know, you seem cognizant but you’re so close to heat. Legally you’re not even _allowed to sign contracts right now!”_

“Lance, seriously, you’re being-“

“But the thing is if I don’t leave this room right now, then I don’t know if I’m going to have the will power to stay away during your heat or even after it. So I need you to know that I’m putting it all out on the line right now, and if I stay, I’m in it for real, and that means if you don’t want me after your heat is over, it’s _gonna break my heart_ and I know that’s not fair and I don’t want to put that on you, but I just have to warn you-“

This time the person who was interrupted was Lance, when Shiro reached up to grab his face, pulling him in for a firm kiss. 

Shiro pulled away. “Do you honestly think I don’t know that?” 

Lance looked at Shiro, taking in the steady gaze of his dark eyes, the determined set of his face. 

“Lance, we’ve lived together for almost four years now. I think I know you pretty well by now.”

Lance felt the anxiety leave his body slowly, loosening his muscles. He toed off his shoes and moved back onto the bed, facing Shiro.

“Although, you did surprise me when you called me the perfect Omega.” A hint of pink spread across Shiro’s face.

Lance wanted to press kisses to it. 

“Look, I get your hesitation. I am really close to heat but that doesn’t mean what I’m feeling isn’t genuine. I wasn’t that close to heat when I felt it last week.”

That gave Lance pause.

“You felt like this last week?”

Shiro shrugged, an endearingly nervous gesture. 

“Well yeah, those things you said to me… No one has ever said things like that to me.”

Shiro took his head then. “No one ever reacted to the news that I’m an Omega the way you did. And I never realized before how much I wanted that.”

Lance watched as Shiro turned his hand over, palm up, and pressed large fingers softly over the scent glands in his wrist. 

“Truthfully, I shouldn’t have been surprised because if anyone was going to react that way, it’s you. You always take your own path.”

Lance looked up, catching Shiro’s eye questioningly. Shiro smiled.

“In a good way.” He squeezed Lance’s wrist firmly. 

“I meant everything I said, Shiro,” Lance affirmed. “You _are_ the perfect Omega.”

“You’re a pretty great Alpha,” Shiro shot back. 

Lance rubbed at the back of his neck, his trade mark embarrassed move. “I don’t know about that…”

“Well I do,” Shiro tugged on his hand, pulling his closer. “So maybe we can be perfect and great together…”

Shiro raised a brow and Lance couldn’t help laughing, leaning his face down into Shiro’s neck, pressing his mouth against his throat in a soft kiss.

“That sounds like a plan.”

Lance wanted to soak in Shiro’s warm, happy cinnamon scent for the rest of his life. 

“Stay the night with me?” Shiro asked, already pulling Lance’s shirt off over his head. 

“Everyone will know, if I do,” he warned, letting Shiro undress him.

“They’re gonna know anyway, soon enough.”

It was a good point, and Lance wasn’t interested in arguing anyway.

Finally naked again, he lay down, pulling Shiro against him, burying his face in the scent of content Omega. He was asleep before he even had time to think. 

Lance woke up to the disorienting feeling of someone moving against him. The memories of the night before came back to him slowly, and he stretched leisurely, taking stock of himself.

At some point in the night he’d slid further up the bed, the pillows pushed onto the floor. Contrarily, Shiro had slid lower, and his face was smooshed up against Lance’s stomach, one arm wound around his hips. 

Lance squirmed a little and felt the sticky wetness of saliva on his stomach.

Shiro drooled.

How fucking cute.

“Shiro,” Lance ran his fingers through Shiro’s snowy white hair. “Wake up, baby.”

“Hmph?” Shiro opened his eyes slowly, looking at to the source of noise with confusion. Lance watched the clarity return to his face and couldn’t help smiling when Shiro blushed, all across his cheeks and down his chest.

Shiro looked at Lance’s stomach and spotted the drool, swiping at his quickly before wiping his mouth, looking up to Lance’s face embarrassedly. “Sorry.”

Lance laughed. “Shiro, I want to wake up covered in your drool for the rest of forever, so it’s totally fine.”

Shiro snorted, rolling away, but Lance caught the smile on his face as he stood up.

He could scent the happiness in the air as well. 

Lance looked around at the mess from the night before, clothes scattered everywhere. 

“Well, never thought I’d do the walk of shame from _Takashi Shirogane’s bedroom_ but here we are.”

Shiro laughed, shaking his head. “I’d tell you to just shower here with me, but we do have stuff to do today.”

“Dear God, what could be more important than that?” Lance jumped up, wrapping his arm around Shiro’s waist to pull him towards the shower. 

Shiro squealed, jumping away, and Lance took the opportunity to wrestle him back against the wall, finally turning the tables on Shiro. 

They struggled, giggling, until Shiro relented, allowing himself to be caught. 

“Aww, you let me win,” Lance panted, blue eyes bright and happy, as he wrapped himself around Shiro.

“I’ll let you in on a secret,” Shiro breathed, leaning down just a bit to nose at Lance’s scent glands. “I never wanted to win in the first place.”

Lance shivered, the tone of Shiro’s enticing voice, his naked body warm and open, scent rich with yearning. 

Lance pulled away and immediately began to reach for his clothes. 

“Welp, I’ve gotta get the fuck outta here or else I am gonna throw you back on that mattress, and we still haven’t got any condoms, so _you’re welcome-“_

Shiro’s laugh was entirely too infectious, and he watched Lance with soft eyes as the Alpha got dressed. 

Lance pressed a final kiss to his mouth. 

“Meet ya back here. I’d like to be there with you when the shit hits the fan.”

Shiro merely nodded, and Lance took that as a desire to avoid what they both knew was going to be an _ordeal,_ before they absolutely needed to. 

Lance showered and changed faster than he ever had in this life, skipping multiple steps in his normally lengthy routine. 

As he brushed the taste of Shiro’s cum out of his mouth, he couldn’t help worrying over what was going to happen next. 

Freshly washed and dressed in clean clothes, Lance still reeked of Shiro. 

Well, it didn’t really matter. They were going to have to tell everyone anyway. At least like this, no one would doubt the validity of their claims. 

Lance sighed, already imagining the outrage from Keith.

And hopefully the shameful embarrassment from Pidge. 

Lance looked up from tying his shoes at the sound of a knock on his door. 

Opening it revealed Shiro, who looked breathtakingly beautiful, despite a sheepish expression.

“You were kind of taking a while. I thought you might be freaking out.”

“Hey, you _do_ know me well,” Lance laughed, pulling Shiro down into a kiss. 

It grew heated very quickly. They’d only been apart for about twenty-five minutes and Lance had felt every one of them. He wanted to pull Shiro into his room, toss him onto the bed and have his wicked way with him.

A throat clearing from somewhere in the hallway startled them both, and they jumped in unison, pulling apart. 

They turned together, looking to see Hunk, standing in the corridor, face hot with a blush.

“Sooo, this is a thing…” Hunk gestured at the two of them. 

Caught outright, Lance and Shiro had no choice but to nod. Lance released his hold on Shiro’s shirt and rubbed at his own hair. Shiro stepped back, straightening his clothes. 

“Yeah, it is,” Shiro finally said, turning towards Hunk.

“Cool, cool. Uh, since when?”

“Not long,” Lance offered. “Obviously, you know, I woulda told you but…” 

Lance looked briefly to Shiro, unsure of what all he could say.

“But I asked Lance not to tell anyone that I’m an Omega.”

Hunk nodded, wide eyed. “Right, got it. I mean, that’s cool, you being, ya know-“

“Right, thanks,” Shiro interrupted.

The air in the hallway was tense, Lance looked from Hunk to Shiro until finally Hunk spoke again. 

“So are you gonna tell…?”

Shiro looked at Lance briefly, before turning back to Hunk. 

“Yeah, we were going to tell everyone today.”

“Oh well… Right on. That’s good. Well, I’ll uh, let you get back to it,” Hunk flushed. “I mean not _it_ but like, your day or whatever, I didn’t mean-“

Lance cut him off. “We’ll see you at breakfast.”

“Awesome,” Hunk groaned, turning to leave before he’d even finished speaking. 

Lance and Shiro watched him go before turning back to each other. 

“That was-“ Lance began.

“Awful?” Shiro interjected. 

Lance waved him off. “Pfft, no, it was fine. Hunk’s just like that, he would have been awkward if he walked in on anyone kissing, not just with his best friend and team captain.”

Shiro smiled softly. “Yeah, maybe.”

“Maybe nothing, trust me. It’ll be fine. Totally fine.”

Lance may have been trying to convince himself, just a little bit.

They headed towards the galley, where generally everyone ate breakfast and lunch, leaving the dining hall for dinner time. 

Lance stepped in front of Shiro, some Alpha instinct inside telling him to put himself in danger first – as if walking into their kitchen was any kind of dangerous – and Shiro seemed to sense his thoughts, saying nothing as Lance took the lead. 

They were the last to arrive, having taken much longer than usual with their morning routines. Everyone, including Allura and Coran, sat around the table, all with various breakfast like foods in front of them.

Pidge looked up at the sound of their entrance, bored interest shifting to wide eyed astonishment the second she caught a whiff of their scent.

“Oh, called it!” She crowed. “Lance if you were an Omega why would you hide it this whole time? I almost took my pants off at dinner last night!”

Allura and Coran exchanged confused glances, having missed the display from the night before. 

“No one told you to get undressed, you little weirdo, and secondly-“

Shiro stopped the beginning of his tirade easily, a hand touching his shoulder from behind. 

Lance watched Pidge’s eyes widen behind her glasses. 

“Lance isn’t an Omega, I am.” Everyone sat frozen, looking at Shiro in shock. 

Of course Keith was the one to speak first. “Wait, what? How?”

“Uh, biologically?” Shiro answered, and Lance snorted a laugh. Shiro squeezed his shoulder. 

“But you don’t smell like an Omega?” Pidge asked, looking around at everyone as if to confirm.

“Actually, he does. That how I figured it out.” Lance spoke up. 

“And so what, now you two are just, together, or what the fuck, why do you smell like each other?” Keith was growing agitated; his question didn’t seem to be directed at either one of them individually.

Lance turned to look behind him, and the look on Shiro’s face made his stomach clench.

“Lance and I are…” Shiro began, looking over at Lance then, his scent held a note of pleading. 

“Yeah, we’re together. Well spotted, mullet, what’s it to you?”

Lance pulled away, walking over to the cabinets where they kept the almost-cereal and grabbing two bowls. They needed to regain normalcy, to pretend that this was just any other morning. When it came down to it _it was_ just any other morning. 

Shiro being an Omega didn’t change anything on the ship or within the team, and their sex life _definitely_ didn’t pertain to the rest of the group.

Lance turned around, holding a bowl out to Shiro, who took it in surprise. With a hand at the small of Shiro’s back, he led them both to the table, pulling out Shiro’s chair before taking his own. 

“What the absolute fuck. This makes _zero_ sense.” Keith cried. “Fine, you’re an Omega, whatever. But why are you with _him_ all of the sudden?”

Keith threw his arm out towards Lance, who merely held his middle finger up, attention half on his cereal and half on his Omega.

“Is this cause your heat is coming up? Because there is a ship _full_ of Alphas. You could have any of them. Allura! Or even me! _Anyone but Lance.”_

Allura started to protest, but Lance growled, sharp and angry. Hunk and Pidge both jumped at the noise.

“Fuck you Keith, Shiro’s not some prize for the highest bidder. We like each other, why is that so hard for you to get?”

“Because you like everyone! And now Shiro’s just the latest conquest in your ridiculous effort to fuck the universe!”

“Fuck the? Who do you think-“ Lance began to stand, a low level growl building in his chest, matched by a similar one from Keith. 

Shiro reached out then, grabbing his arm, stilling his movements. Lance looked down at him, startled at the touch. 

Wow, he was really wound up. Had he been about to fight Keith at the breakfast table? Would he ever make it through another meal without getting into an dispute on Shiro’s behalf?

Lance took a deep breath and was immediately assaulted with Shiro’s calming scent. 

Shiro was obviously trying to soothe him through pheromones, and it was working. Lance let himself relax, sitting back down. 

Everyone watched in surprise as Lance picked his spoon back up, taking a bite.

His mouth was full when he told Keith, “You know what, it doesn’t matter. I don’t really care what you think about it.”

Keith blinked, expression somewhere between enraged and confused. He turned Galran purple eyes to Shiro, who merely shrugged. 

Coran finally spoke up. “Shiro, my dear boy, why did you hide it for so long?”

“I didn’t, really,” Shiro told them. “You guys just assumed, and I never corrected you.”

“Well, I wouldn’t have guessed it was you, but I did totally call it,” Pidge said.

“Pidge, it was very rude of you to try to out someone like that. While it wasn’t meant in a harmful way, Shiro was obviously not comfortable bringing it up.” Allura chastised. “We never revealed that you were a girl before you were ready.”

Pidge hung her head a bit. “You’re right, I’m sorry Shiro.”

She turned to look at their leader, who merely smiled softly. “It’s fine, I understand your concern.”

Under the table, his fingers threaded with Lance’s, clutching his hand. 

“But your heat _is_ coming up soon, which means we’ll be down a Paladin,” Hunk reminded them all. He looked at Lance. “Or, I guess, two Paladins.”

“It’s not ideal, but we have plans in place for instances like these. Shiro and I can discuss further what our best strategy for Voltron’s safety will be.” Allura told them, her voice confident and sure.

“I’m gonna skip training for today,” Keith finally spoke, standing up and abandoning his breakfast dishes to rush from the room.

“Well he didn’t punch me,” Lance said, crunching around his cereal. “Practically a miracle.”

Shiro hummed, a negative sound, and looked towards the door Keith has left through. 

“I should go talk to-“

Lance squeezed his hand. “Nah, leave him. It’s like talking to a brick wall when he’s like this.”

“I guess…” Shiro looked down at the bowl in front of him, before reaching for the carafe of not-quite-coffee and pouring a cup.

Everyone returned to their meals, the tension in the room only slightly noticeable.

Allura pressed her palms against the table and leaned in. 

“So are all Omegas from Earth quite so…” She waved her hand, expression contemplative. “Tall?”

Shiro looked up, his expression resigned, and started to open his mouth but was interrupted by Pidge.

“Nah, most are pretty slight, but then again, Alphas are supposed to be big and brawny and look at me.” She shrugged carelessly, shoving a spoon into her mouth.

Lance watched as Shiro looked at her, surprised pleasure in his eyes. 

“I suppose that is true!” Allura agreed.

“There were plenty of strong, intimidating Omegas on Altea!” Coran chimed in. “Why my cousin Cozan was big as a house, and he could take on anyone, Alpha or otherwise! With my own eyes, I saw that man take down a Klaxian not one week after delivering twins! Well, I told him-“

Lance tuned him out, instead watching the expression on Shiro’s face as he listened to Coran talk, Allura throwing in her own comments now and then.

He looked happy, despite everything. Even his scent was soft and calm, fresh laundry. 

Lance’s thoughts strayed to Keith. 

What a dick.

Not that he hadn’t expected that reaction, but still. 

It made sense though, Lance wasn’t unaware of how it must have looked – Shiro coming out as an Omega and Lance just happening to suddenly be interested in him.

Not that Lance had never been interested in Shiro before. Even when he’d believed him to be an Alpha, Lance had found his eyes frequently tracking Shiro’s movements, actively attempting to remember not to stare at his ass. 

And it went without saying that he _loved_ Shiro. 

While he’d never before thought to explore the romantic side of that love, throwing amazing sex into an already strong and caring friendship – it was the obvious outcome. 

Not that Lance was going to _tell_ Shiro that he loved him. Not yet at least. They’d just slept together, he wasn’t insane. 

But maybe he should tell Keith. Make him realize that Lance was serious, that he’d never hurt Shiro, that Keith had no reason to be concerned for his friend. 

Lance stood up. 

Five sets of eyes turned to him in varying degrees of concern and Lance realized that maybe he’d moved a little too fast. 

“Oh uh, ha,” Lance was rubbing the back of his neck before he could stop himself. “I just remembered I left something. Back there, in my, uh, room.”

“Uhh okay?” Hunk replied, clearly weirded out. “See ya at training?”

“Right, for sure, see ya!” Lance leaned down, pressing a kiss to Shiro’s mouth without thought before pulling away. He ignored the faint blush on Shiro’s cheeks and threw a sloppy salute towards Allura before heading out the door and towards the training facilities.

Keith may have said he was skipping training, but that was definitely just because he didn’t want to see anyone. The only place Keith ever went when he was upset was the training rooms. 

Sure enough, Lance could hear the grunting of angry sparring coming from training room three, otherwise known as _Keith’s Territory._ Heavily perfumed with Keith’s _mine, stay back_ scent at the best of times, right now it was a struggle for Lance to not pull his shirt over his mouth and nose as he neared the doorway.

Poking his head in, Keith immediately pulled his sword back, a harried shout to end the training sequence, before turning to face Lance, growling low in his throat.

Lance held up his hands, palms facing Keith, a gentle show of non-aggression. 

“Hey, I’m not here to fight.” Lance told him.

Keith huffed. “Well I am, so get the fuck out.”

Ignoring his words, and his increasingly more agitated scent, Lance stuck his hands in his pockets and strolled into the room casually, trying to look like he wasn’t struggling with all of his instincts by being there. His instinct to protect and please Shiro overrode that.

“You’re being a dick and it’s stressing Shiro out.”

“Oh are you still calling him Shiro? Is he not _Takashi_ now that you’re his boyfriend?” The level of disdain in Keith’s voice was ridiculous. 

“Dude, what’s your problem? You don’t really think I’m gonna do something to Shiro, right? You don’t actually think I’m gonna hurt him, do you?”

Keith eyes flashed. “That’s exactly what I think.”

Lance fought the urge to make himself look bigger and more intimidating. It was just his Alpha drive trying to get him to posture against Keith. Lance ignored it, he was better than that.

“You have a pretty shit opinion of me, Keith. I gotta say, feels bad man. I thought we were friends.”

Keith looked momentarily taken aback. 

“We _are_ friends, that’s why I know you-“ Keith started but Lance cut in.

“When have I ever done anything to deliberately hurt someone?” Lance stared him down.

“Look, I’m not saying you would do it on purpose, but you flirt with everyone, what happens the next time we’re on some planet full of hot, half-dressed aliens?” Keith looked exasperated. 

“I’m probably gonna flirt with them Keith, that’s what I do.”

Keith’s eyes went wide and he held his arms out as if to say, _see!_

“Do you think Shiro doesn’t know that though?”

“Wait, what-“ Keith faltered, his face creasing in confusion.

“Yeah dude, you’re not the only one who knows me. So does Shiro. And just cause I flirt with people, doesn’t mean I want to get with them. That’s just how I am.” Lance shrugged. “It’s how I relate to people.”

Stepping forward, Lance could scent the faintest hint of bewilderment in Keith. Less potent than an Omega, his pheromones still spilled over from the sweat matting his hair to his temples. 

“Anyway, I don’t think you’re giving Shiro – your best and oldest friend – enough credit. He’s a big boy, he can make his own decisions.”

Keith made a face, annoyance clear. 

“Not if he’s going into heat.”

“Now _that concern,_ I do understand. And please trust me when I say, I had the same chat with Shiro. And if in the end, he doesn’t want to be with me, then I’ll deal with that then. But for now, we’re giving it a go.”

Lance pressed his hands against his chest, looking knowingly at Keith. “You’re acting like I’m tricking Shiro into something, when you and I both know he is _way_ out of my league, so if anyone is at risk of getting hurt here…”

Keith huffed, blowing his bangs out of his face. “He is out of your league. But we both know he’d never hurt you. He’s too…”

“Good and pure?” Lance offered.

“Yeah,” Keith sighed. “I can’t believe Shiro is an Omega.” 

“Really?” Lance asked gently. “I get that he doesn’t exactly look like one, but the way he acts?”

Keith paused, and Lance imagined he was filtering through all of his memories and ideas of Shiro.

“I guess… He does kind of act like our mom.”

“Dude, that is exactly what I said.” Lance couldn’t help but laugh.

Keith looked at him appraisingly. “How’d you figure it out?”

At that, Lance gave him a cocky smirk. “I scented it.”

“What’d you do, sniff his gym clothes?”

“Excuse me, do I look like a pervert?”

Keith opened his mouth and Lance threw up a hand.

“That was rhetorical. I _happen_ to have a very sensitive sense of smell. I’m like an Omega bloodhound.”

Keith raised his head, disbelief evident. 

“What am I feeling right now?”

“Like I’m a dick that you want out of your space.”

“Pfft, good guess.” Keith rolled his eyes, before shouldering his massive blade, Lance eyed it nervously.

“We good?” Lance asked, eyes still on Keith’s sword. 

“I’m not gonna waste my breath telling you that if you hurt Shiro, I’ll hurt you even worse. One, because you already know but two, because Shiro can do it himself.”

“True dat,” Lance agreed.

“So yeah, I guess we’re good.” Keith turned back to the training droids behind them. “Now get the fuck out of my space.”

Lance cackled as he left, heading towards the training room lockers to get changed. 

Fuckin’ Keith. 

+

Lance woke to sticky moisture, dripping down his hip and thigh. It was warm and thick, and even without touching it he knew it would be tacky.

Was Shiro drooling on him again? 

Rolling his head a little bit to the right, Lance saw that no, Shiro’s face was nowhere near his stomach or hips. In fact, his mouth and chin were completely dry, his lips parted slightly as he breathed shallowly. 

Shiro’s eyes were just the tiniest bit scrunched and one of his hands fisted the sheets next to his head. Lifting the blanket, Lance saw that the other one was clutching at Lance’s own hip, holding him in place so that Shiro could grind his wet cunt down into Lance’s thigh, mindlessly.

Lance looked to Shiro’s face again. He was definitely asleep, despite the mild humping. 

Shaking himself vaguely, Lance tried to remember the plan. He needed to let someone know that Shiro had gone into heat, officially. Reaching into the bedside table drawer, Lance pulled out his comms tablet, firing off a message to Allura before turning it off and setting it aside. 

The last thing he wanted was to be bothered.

Shiro was still asleep but his breathing was growing even more frantic, little gasps being choked out of him.

Lance rolled slightly, bracing himself over Shiro, before running gentle fingers through sweaty hair. 

“Wake up, baby,” Lance murmured softly, dipping in to kiss the bridge of Shiro’s nose, the crest of his cheek, licking across his cheekbone, just a little. 

Shiro groaned, butting his head into Lance’s palm, but not opening his eyes. 

“Yeah, I know, you feel shitty, huh? But I know something that’ll make you feel better~” Lance softly thrust his hips, his dick already rock-hard from the scent of heat hanging in the air.

Dark eyes popped open, and Lance caught only a glimpse of Shiro’s blown pupils, before they were narrowing and Shiro was sliding his hand up Lance’s neck, pulling him down for a kiss. 

Lance was normally the type to insist on brushing his teeth in the morning before getting frisky, but exceptions could be made, and there was nothing that could have pulled him off Shiro in that moment. 

Moaning into Shiro’s mouth, Lance moved to his knees, manhandling Shiro onto his back. Shiro let himself be maneuvered, distracted by the way Lance was licking the saliva out of his mouth, until he was pulling away, a distressed noise falling from his lips. 

Lance released him suddenly, worried he’d done something wrong, but Shiro only shoved him backwards enough to give himself room to turn over, dropping fluidly to his knees and elbows. 

“Come on, come on,” he panted, spreading his thighs around Lance’s legs.

Lance had been preparing for this moment for days, weeks if he were being honest with himself. He and Shiro had been screwing around all week, but Lance had yet to penetrate him fully. They’d been saving it, an unspoken understanding. 

But still, seeing Shiro on all fours in front of him, presenting like this. 

Lance wrapped his thumb and forefinger painfully tight around his cock and briefly considering slapping himself.

A high whine from Shiro brought him back to himself. 

“Lance, _please,”_ Shiro mewled, thrusting his hips uselessly. 

_Get your shit together Lance. Your Omega needs you to fuck him and you better make it good!_

Lance released his stranglehold, stroking himself once before positioning the tip of his dick right at Shiro’s slit, sliding it along the wet folds. The crack of Shiro’s ass was shiny with slick. 

He was just about to ease in when a thought suddenly struck him. 

“A condom! Oh my God!” Lance looked around frantically, clutching at Shiro’s hips.

Shiro growled then, a desperate Omega cry, before he shoved his hips back, swallowing Lance’s cock with tight, wet heat.

 _Oh, fuuuck._

Lance squeezed his eyes closed, holding Shiro in place.

“Allura,” Shiro panted. “She gave me an after-heat pill,” he squirmed in Lance’s hold. “So I won’t get pregnant.”

Lance relaxed slightly, his grip loosening. 

“So please, please, Lance, _Alpha,”_ Shiro sobbed. “Fuck me!”

Well that was all the direction Lance needed.

He pulled his hips back before slamming in, the force shoving Shiro’s face into the mattress, muffling his cry.

Lance thrust only a few times, enjoying the slick slide of Shiro’s core, before Shiro began to shake, his voice increasing until he was screaming and Lance could feel his pussy throbbing, clenching desperately to try and keep him inside. 

Lance fucked him through his orgasm before pushing Shiro’s stomach against the mattress, putting a hand to the back of his neck. Lance dropped all of his weight onto his palm as he ground his hips as deep as they would go, before drawing back to thrust in a steady rhythm. 

There was a cadence building, the slapping sound of Lance’s thrusts mixed with the soft, _ah!_ noises fucked out of Shiro’s open, drooling mouth. Lance took a second to enjoy it, the music of sex, his favorite part of the entire act.

Shiro was starting to struggle again, his thighs trembling against Lance’s hips, when Lance felt the swelling at the base of his cock start, the beginnings of his knot.

That light brush of his knot against the slick folds of Shiro’s cunt was enough to have the Omega coming again, his head hanging as he moaned.

Lance moaned too, the pulsing squeeze of Shiro was enough to take his breath away. He wanted to shove in as far as possible, feel Shiro’s velvety walls clenching down around his knot, see the rim of his pussy stretched to its limit.

“Shiro,” Lance huffed, still slamming forward with purpose. “Shiro, baby, can I…?”

“Yes! Yes, please, Lance, knot me, I want it _so fucking bad.”_ Shiro’s legs spread impossibly wider, his knees sliding on the sheets. 

Lance hauled himself backwards, never slowing his pace, looking down to watch himself slide in and out of Shiro. Slippery natural lubricant slicked everything in sight, all over Lance’s knot and down Shiro’s thighs, excessive amounts from the force of his earlier orgasms. 

Lance ran his fingers through the fluids, massaging along Shiro’s slit, before sliding up to swirl around his furled asshole. Listening intently, to gauge any negative reaction, Lance pressed a wet fingertip against the rim, pushing until it gave. 

Shiro tensed for a moment before relaxing, and Lance felt the muscle around his finger unclench, allowing him the ability to slide all the way in.

Through the thin membrane between ass and pussy, Lance could feel his own cock, sliding in and out. He shuddered at the sensation, and Shiro responded in kind, his voice a near constant whimper. 

Lance pulled his finger out only to shove a second in with the first, thrusting them opposite of his cock. 

Shiro’s hands held the sheets on either side of his face in a death grip, his entire body was shaking, and when his moaning began to sound more like crying, Lance finally gave him. 

Pulling his fingers out of Shiro’s asshole, he shoved his almost fully engorged knot all the way in. 

For a second it was quiet, Shiro’s mouth open in a silent scream while Lance bit down on his own tongue, overcome with sensation, as he spilled deep inside his partner. 

The sound crashed back over them in the next second, Shiro’s wail enough to hurt Lance’s ears, Lance’s breathless gasping almost as loud. 

Lance dropped back to his hands, avoiding dropping his weight onto Shiro, and maneuvering them onto their sides with Shiro’s head pillowed on his arm. Once they were settled comfortably, he went wild – running a hand over every exposed inch of Shiro’s body, throat, tits, stomach. At the same time he was pressing opening-mouthed kissed to his neck and shoulders, nipping here and there, just enough to mark. 

Shiro began to squirm, finally coming back from his orgasm, and Lance was struck by the intense desire to please his Omega. He slid his hand over Shiro’s stomach, skating lower to the apex of his pussy, skimming over his clit. 

Shiro’s free hand flew up to grasp as Lance’s hair, and he moaned as Lance circled his most sensitive spot, increasingly firm until Shiro was coming again, crying out.

Lance hissed, as the clenching from Shiro trigger another, smaller orgasm from him. His knot was swollen, tying them together, plugging Shiro up with his cum. He thrust as much as he could, riding it out. 

Eventually, they stilled, breathes slowing, along with their heart rates. 

Lance reached for Shiro’s hand, twining their fingers.

“Holy shit,” he said, voice muffled by Shiro’s shoulder.

Shiro laughed and Lance felt it around his dick, a brief tightening that had him groaning lightly. 

Shiro hummed a pleased noise at that, grinding his hips back teasingly. 

Lance growled playfully, biting at his shoulder. 

“How long does this last?” Shiro asked, voice warm and happy. His scent was overpoweringly sweet, like burnt sugar, 100% Pure Pleased Omega. 

“I dunno,” Lance told him truthfully. “Normally a few minutes, five tops. It’s supposed to be a lot longer during a heat, though. I’ve never done it before, so.”

Shiro turned his head marginally, as much as their position allowed. 

“Really? I’m your first?” 

Lance squeezed him around the middle, growling. “You sound very satisfied with yourself.”

“Nah, just with you.” He flashed a smile and Lance felt that clenching feeling in his stomach. The one that reminded him of just how deep he was. How hard he’d fallen.

It was a struggle, and it pulled slightly at his still sensitive dick, but Lance manhandled Shiro into a position that allowed them to kiss, licking deep into his mouth, committing the taste to memory. 

Who knew how long this would last. Shiro might come to his senses the minute his heat ended. Maybe in a year they’d realize things weren’t working out. Or they could get back to Earth and find their lives just didn’t mesh the way they wanted them to. 

If that day came, it would be awful, devastating, heartbreaking. 

But it was a risk worth taking. 

Shiro’s taste, his scent, this feeling he created inside Lance – It was what people went to war for. And Lance was more than willing to fight for it, just the same as he was fighting for the universe.

**Author's Note:**

> [come say hi to me on my tumblr :)](http://thinkpinkwrites.tumblr.com)


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